MCM condemns journalist assault

The Muluzi sympathisers manhandled and intimidated Denis Nliwasa while he performed his duties before they took away his camera in heat of the fracas.

The MCM said in a statement released on Thursday, 10 March 2011 that it noted with concern the attack of the MBC cameraman while he was operating in a public space, outside the courtroom.

Assault on journalists, detestable - MCM

MCM executive director Penelope Kakhobwe and Reverend Patrick Semphere, chairperson of National Governing Council of MCM, said the assault of any journalist while performing their legitimate journalistic duties is detestable.

"The first and foremost objective of MCM is to uphold and maintain the freedom of the media in Malawi, including the freedom of expression and the public right to freely receive and impart information and opinion, and to defend / protect the media from undue pressure from any source," observed the two officials.

MCM said it believes that freedom of the media should apply to all journalists in the country regardless of the media organisation they are affiliated to.

Media freedom protected by the Constitution

"This is because the freedom for the media in Malawi to report freely, devoid of undue influence and freedom of expression are all protected under Section 35 and Section 36 respectively by the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi," Chisemphere and Kakhobwe observed further.

They said unless under legitimate restrictions, no individual has the right to bar a journalist from performing his/her duties in a public space.

"We would also like to remind the media fraternity to report threats to media freedom and instances of intimidation to MCM in a timely manner for the council to effectively perform its role of upholding and maintaining the freedom of the media in Malawi," MCM said.